T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma's Revelation on Rishabh Pant's Batting Position

During the build-up to India’s T20 World Cup squad announcement in late April, there was much debate over the best top-order combination, particularly whether Virat Kohli should open with captain Rohit Sharma. However, Rishabh Pant’s promotion to No. 3 has surprised many. After India’s 60-run win over Bangladesh in a T20 World Cup warm-up match in New York on Saturday, Pant’s explosive fifty sparked discussions about his potential role in the top order.

On 1 June, India tried a new opening combination against Bangladesh, with Sanju Samson and captain Rohit Sharma opening the batting. Unfortunately, Samson struggled and was dismissed for 1 run in 6 balls. Pant then came in at No. 3 and shone with a powerful performance, hitting four sixes and four boundaries off just 32 balls. He scored an impressive 53 before retiring hurt, helping India reach 182 for five. The performance fueled talk of his potential role at the World Cup.

After the match, Rohit Sharma addressed speculation about India’s batting line-up for the World Cup. He revealed that Pant was sent in to bat at number 3 to give him a chance and the team is yet to finalize his batting order. “We want to give him a chance,” Rohit said. “We haven’t decided the batting line-up yet; We wanted most people to get a hit in the middle,” he added.

T20 World Cup 2024: India’s all-round performance in warm-up matches
India’s performance in warm-up game India produced an impressive performance in their only warm-up game before kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign by beating Bangladesh by 60 runs at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya led the aggressive batting to help India post a total of 182 for five. The bowlers then produced a clinical display, restricting Bangladesh to just 122 for nine in 20 overs.